babylon_berlinfandomcom-20200222-history
Episode 8
Plot Summary We open to Gereon blindfolded and being hypnotized by Schmidt. His memory is suddenly clouded by scenes from a club, which he is attending with Bruno. The silhouette of Saint Josef enters the club and approaches him. He sees a hazy image of the Armenian in a car with him. When Schmidt releases him from his hypnotic state, Gereon begins to panic at the sight of him. Frau Benda and the children are going on a trip out of the city. After she leaves, Greta goes hard at work meticulously cleaning and preparing every part of the house. She “borrows” one of Frau Benda’s dresses in order to go on a date with Fritz to an island in the river. The ferryman reminds Fritz not to be late for the last ferry. Greta talks about Frau Benda’s demanding expectations, and Fritz agitates against the Bendas. Nyssen is led to an interrogation by his lawyer. He is forced to exit via the entrance hall, exposing him in handcuffs to a gaggle of journalists and photographers. Benda questions Nyssen about importing chemical weapons under false pretenses as “pesticides”, as well as why a steel corporation has any need for ordering “pesticides” in bulk. He points out that the amount of gas in the train could easily wipe out the entire population of Berlin in short order. Nyssen sends his lawyer outside and speaks frankly to Benda. Nyssen denounces the Weimar republic as a “democratic aberration” and Benda as a puppet of traitors. Afterward, the policemen humiliate Nyssen by forcing him to strip naked and performing a full cavity search. Fritz and Greta talk on the island. They “lose track of time” and conveniently miss the last ferry. Greta begins to panic about making it back to the Benda household in time, but Fritz insists that she trust him. He goes to reveal the boat stolen earlier from the rowing club back in Episode 6 , along with a picnic set. Greta kisses him, and they row back to shore. The awkward and mysterious Otto meets them at the train station, and is implied to have been following them, somewhat spoiling the mood. Gereon visits his pharmacist once again. He offers him the barbituric acid. Gereon trusts him and asks for triple the dosage. Greta returns back to the Benda household just in time. With his wife and children gone, Benda lets loose a little, having Greta fry him some fresh sausage against his wife’s explicit instructions and sharing dinner and beer with her. He confides in her that they are surrounded by conspirators against the republic, which Greta laughs off. Nyssen receives a visitor in prison – Countess Sorokina. She confesses to betraying him regarding the train. Nyssen is shocked to learn she knows about it at all. Elsewhere in the prison, Krajewski finally breaks, and agrees to lead Bruno and Gereon to where the negatives are stored – the Moka Efti, in the Armenian’s personal safe. Bruno and Gereon discuss a plan to steal them which the audience is not privy to. Bruno forces Krajewski to go in as a distraction in exchange for his drugs, while Gereon infiltrates the restaurant. Krajewski drops the Armenian’s name and gets a meeting with him, spouting nonsense; Gereon sneaks upstairs while the Armenian is distracted; Bruno loads his pistol in anticipation. Unfortunately, Krajewski isn’t able to maintain his distraction and is thrown out, the Armenian boasting that he already has deep connections with the police. The Armenian interrupts Gereon just after he cracks the safe but before he can find the right negative – he takes them all instead. Gereon takes him hostage, firing a round out the window to intimidate him – which is in turn noticed by Bruno outside when it knocks out several exterior lights. Gereon intends to use the Armenian as a hostage to simply walk out of the building. As they leave, Gereon grabs several wads of cash from the safe as well, while the Armenian chuckles in response. As they walk out, the Armenian threatens Gereon, revealing that they already know everything about him and his family. He drops the name, “Yucatan”, which briefly gives Gereon great pause. Gereon and the Armenian walk out onto the restaurant floor, giving a great shock to the customers. Bruno enters at the same time, and the Armenian’s men begin to converge on them. When a guest slipping out of his chair momentarily distracts Gereon, the Armenian attempts to grab his gun unsuccessfully, and Gereon shoots him in the hand. The Armenian takes it in begrudging stride, but his men open fire, and a gunfight ensues – the guests flee in panic. After many shots are exchanged with no one getting hit, the Armenian finally shouts for everyone to stop shooting. Gereon takes the opportunity to take him hostage again, and has him order his men to disarm themselves. Bruno, Gereon, and the Armenian walk out with the film negatives, while the bullet-riddled aquarium in the wall begins to crack. Having retrieved the negatives, Gereon lets the Armenian go as he and Bruno drive off. Later, they dump off Krajewski, Gereon giving him the drugs and the cash stolen from the safe. Gereon and Bruno watch each of the blackmail films in turn in order to discern which is the one they seek. Bruno laughs at seeing so many powerful politicians being sexually humiliated, while Gereon watches in stoic silence. One of them is of his father, which profoundly affects Gereon. Bruno drives him to a public telephone, where he makes a call to his father reporting that they have retrieved destroyed the film, but that he will not be returning to Cologne. Afterwards, they burn all of the negatives, and go to the club we saw in Gereon’s memories back at the beginning of the episode. Gereon starts conversing with Bruno at the club, where the latter reveals that it was Charlotte who brought him a sample of Gereon’s medicine. Bruno claims that he was paranoid about the subject of Gereon’s investigation, and needed to keep tabs on him, but that this is now water under the bridge. Gereon is more shaken by the knowledge that Charotte betrayed him, however. Later, Gereon and Bruno descend into drunken hedonism. Unknown to Gereon, the club’s employees are watching them and whispering mysteriously. Dr. Schmidt treats the wound in the Armenian’s hand. He is grateful that the Armenian restrained himself and did not harm Gereon. Their connection is revealed – Schmidt successful treated the Armenian’s crippling shell-shock. One of the Armenian’s men reports on Bruno and Gereon’s whereabouts. Back at the club, the bartender flips something into Gereon’s drink. Outside, Saint Josef is dropped off at the club, and enters. Gereon suddenly starts feeling the effects of the drug, and stumbles off, beginning a surreal sequence to demonstrate his disjointed and disoriented memory. Saint Josef grabs him and stuffs him into a car with the Armenian. Gereon is brought into a hypno-therapy session with Dr. Schmidt. His memories fixate on Charlotte’s betrayal. When he awakens, he panics and grabs his gun from the desk, fleeing out the door while pursued by Saint Josef. At some point, Gereon ends up stumbling in a construction site and covered in cement. We ominously cut to the next morning, where Charlotte awakens Gereon, who has been passed out on his stoop. He is completely covered in dried cement. He shrugs off Charlotte’s offers of help and furiously shouts at her to get lost. The episode ends on a voiceover of a letter written by Gereon to Helga, where he admits that he is unable to return to Cologne, and wants to leave his past behind in favor of a new, more open beginning in Berlin.